Purchasing Card

HOW DO I OBTAIN A PURCHASING CARD?
From Procedure No: PP-140
Page No: 5 of 19
Effective Date: 8/27/02 Supersedes Date: 1/11/01
Board of County Commissioners
Office of Purchasing
Title: Visa Purchasing Card

B. Assignment and Control of the Purchasing Card

1. Requests for and Issuance of Purchasing Cards

a. Requests for new cardholders shall be made by submitting a completed
Request/Certification/Receipt form to the Purchasing Card Administrator.
Changes to current cardholders shall be made by submitting the Visa Purchasing
Card Maintenance form F0230 to the Purchasing Card Administrator.
b. All requests for purchasing cards shall be signed by the Department Director
and approved by the County Administrator. Department Director may be held
responsible for any inappropriate charges made on a card he/she has requested.
c. Purchasing cards will be issued to individual employees who frequently
purchase goods and services.
d. The purchasing card will have the employee's name, the County name, and the
expiration date embossed on the face of the card. The County=s Florida sales
tax exemption number and Federal ID number are preprinted on the purchasing
card. The purchasing card issuing company will not have individual cardholder
information other than the cardholder's work address. No credit records of the
cardholder are maintained by the issuing company.
e. When the Purchasing Card Administrator receives a Purchasing Card from the
issuing card company, the cardholder will be required to personally take receipt
of the card and sign a certification/receipt form. The cardholder will be given a
copy of the Purchasing Card Policies and Procedures guide and an oral review
of the program. Each Card must be activated by the cardholder according to
instructions printed on the Card prior to use.

HOW CAN I USE THE PURCHASING CARD?
From Procedure No: PP-140
Page No: 6 - 9
Effective Date: 8/27/02 Supersedes Date: 1/11/01

C. Cardholder Use of Purchasing Card

1. Cardholder Use Only
The purchasing card may be used only by the employee whose name is embossed
on the card. No other person is authorized to use the card. The cardholder is
responsible and accountable for all transactions that occur on his/her card. The
cardholder may be held personally responsible for inappropriate charges.
Upon receipt of the Purchasing Card, the cardholder should sign the back of the
card.

2. County Purchases Only
The purchasing card is to be used for County authorized purchases only. The
purchasing card cannot be used for any personal use and any such use will
require immediate reimbursement and will result in disciplinary action, which
may include dismissal. In addition credit card privileges will be revoked and card
surrendered - ON FIRST OFFENSE.

3. Spending Limits

a. The County Administrator approving the assignment of a purchasing card will
set two limits for each cardholder: single purchase limit and 30-day limit. The
maximum limits shall be $2,499.99 for a single purchase and $15,000.00 during
the 30-day billing cycle. Additional limitations may be imposed by the
requesting Director.
b. Requests for spending limit changes shall be initiated by a memo to the
Purchasing Card Administrator by the Department Director and approved by the
County Administrator.
c. A purchase may be made of multiple items, but the invoice cannot exceed
$2,499.99 or the cardholder's limit if less than $2,499.99. Splitting charges
will be considered abuse of the purchasing card program, for example,
artificially dividing similar purchases over different days and times to keep
the total amounts below the $2,499.99 limits for single purchases. Charges
will be considered split if more than 4 purchases are made from a vendor in
one month and the invoice totals exceed $10,000.00.

4. Other Conditions

a. All items purchased over-the-counter shall be immediately available. No back
ordering is allowed.
b. Authorized travel for employees at County expense to meetings and seminars for
members of the Board of County Commissioners, department heads and employees
as per Board of County Commissioners Policy Manual Section I, Part 4, Out of
County Travel.
c. Blanket Purchase Order Releases require a receiving report instead of paying by
Visa Purchasing Card. Do not use Visa Purchasing Card for the vendor which you
have established a Blanket Purchase Order. Blanket Purchase Orders are required
instead of the Visa Purchasing Card where similar repetitive purchases, from a
particular vendor is generally the case. Purchases from a vendor that exceed
$2499.99 in a month are considered to be repetitive.

5. Prohibited Uses of Purchasing Cards

The following types of items will not be purchased with a purchasing card, regardless of the dollar amount.

a. Cash advances;
b. Telephone charges;
c. Any additional goods or services specifically restricted by the departments.
Note: Please review the complete list of Visa Merchant Category Codes, allowed and disallowed in this procedure on pages 12 of 19 thru 19 of 19.

D. Procedures for Making and Paying for Purchases

1. Documentation of Over-the-Counter Purchases

a. When an over-the-counter purchase is made, the cardholder shall obtain the
customer's copy of the charge slip.
b. The charge slip will be retained either by the cardholder or by the Department
representative until submitted to the Clerk’s Accounts Payable section for
payment.

2. Sales and Use Taxes
The County is exempt from paying any State sales and or use tax, even if the
purchase is made with the Purchasing Card. If the vendor charges sales tax, the
cardholder shall contact the vendor and obtain a credit equal to the amount of the
sales tax.

The Escambia County Tax exemption number is printed on the face of the
Purchasing Card. If you have problem with any Vendor about sales or any other
tax, please contact Purchasing at 595-4980.

3. Missing Documentation

If for some reason the cardholder does not have documentation of the transaction to
send with the statement to his/her Purchasing Card Representative, he/she shall
attach a description of the purchase. Continued incidents of missing documentation
may result in the cancellation of the employee's purchasing card and discipline. The
employee will be required to pay for the purchase if he/she cannot produce the
document of the transaction.

4. Payment and Invoice Procedures

a. The purchasing card company will mail an individual billing statement to the
cardholder=s office and one consolidated statement for all cardholders to the
Clerk's Accounts Payable section. This Statement of Account will list all
transactions processed during the previous billing cycle (usually 30 days.) If no
purchases were made on the purchasing card during the billing cycle, no
Statement of Account will be generated unless adjustments for previously billed
transactions have been processed during that cycle.
b. The cardholder shall review the statement and note any errors or disputes.
Account numbers for each item (or account numbers and total dollar amounts
for groups of items) should be written on the transmittal form F0220 preprinted
on payment voucher envelope and place statement and receipts in envelope.
The statement will then be reviewed and signed by the Department
representative. By signing the statement, the designated Department
representative is certifying that all charges are appropriate and authorized and
that all charges are proved by attached receipts.
Once the Department representative has reviewed and signed all statements for
which they are responsible for, the statements are forwarded to the Clerk’s
Accounts Payable section. All vouchers shall be received in the Clerk’s
Accounts Payable section no later than five (5) business days after the
billing cycle cutoff date, which is the fourth (4th) of each month. Card
charge slips/receipts for all items listed on the statement shall be sent along with
the statement.
c. The Accounts Payable section will ensure that the Purchasing Card charges are
paid timely and that the consolidated statement received is reconciled against
the individual cardholder statements forwarded from the Departments.
Department Directors will be notified when individual statements are not
received in the allotted time. Continued failure to meet the five workday
deadlines may result in the revocation of Purchasing Cards and discipline at the
recommendation of the Purchasing Manager to the County Administrator.

E. Disputes

1. If items purchased with the purchasing card are defective, the cardholder shall
return the item(s) to the vendor for replacement or credit. If the commodities paid
for with a purchasing card are faulty, the vendor shall be notified and asked to
correct the situation or provide a credit. If the vendor refuses to replace or correct
the faulty item or service, the purchase will be considered in dispute. If the quantity
of items received is less than the invoice and charge billing, then the transaction
shall be disputed.

2. If a vendor charges the county sales tax the cardholder should not sign the sales slip
and buy the commodity.

3. A disputed item shall be explained with a note on the cardholder's Statement of
Account before the statement is forwarded to the Accounts Payable section for
payment.

4. It is essential that the time frames and documentation requirements established by
the purchasing card issuer be followed to protect the cardholder's rights in dispute.

WHAT ARE THE SPENDING LIMITS?
From Procedure No: PP-140
Page No: 2 of 19
Effective Date: 8/27/02 Supersedes Date: 1/11/01

The Purchasing Card system simplifies the procurement/disbursement process.
Procurement responsibility is delegated to the ordering Department enabling an authorized
cardholder to place an order directly with the vendor.

When a purchase authorization is requested by the supplier at the point-of-sale, the Visa
Purchasing Card system checks the transaction against preset limits established by the
employee's Department. Transactions are approved or declined (electronically) based on
the Purchasing Card authorization criteria established. The authorization criteria may be
adjusted periodically as needed and may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Single purchase limit as set by the County Administrator (not to exceed $2,499.99)
• Monthly spending limit (not to exceed $15,000.00)
• Approved Merchant Category Codes Note: Please review the complete list of Visa Merchant Category Codes, allowed and disallowed, in this procedure on pages 12 of 19 thru 19 of 19.
• Number of transactions allowed per day
• Number of transactions allowed per month